Guardrail



Aug' w, .1937 A. E." BRICKMAN ET Al. 2,089,929

GUARDRAIL Filed Aug. 24, 1934 .M i MI HM I 0mm H l l Mln- Patented Aug. 10, 1937 GUARDRAIL Alan E. Brickman and George A. Gleason, Worcester, Mass., assignors to The American Steel and Wire Company of New Jersey, a corporation of New Jersey Application August 24, 1934, Serial No. 741,322

3 Claims. (Cl. 25E-13.1)

This invention relates to guard rails of the type using flat metal strips. In this type the strips are generally mounted in offset relationship from the posts by means of elastic members and sometimes cause trouble in that a colliding vehicle is thrown into the path of oncoming trailic by the rebound caused by the elasticity of these members. One of the objects of the present inventors is to diminish or eliminate this rebounding action.

vehicle, the strip 4 has backwardly angling edge portions 4a and is fixed to the bracket 2 by bolts 5 which pass through these portions and are therefore out oi the plane of the face of the strip. It follows that a vehicle sliding along the strip will not be torn by these bolts.

We claim:

1. A guard rail including the combination of a post, a metal strip extending transversely past l Other objects may be inferred. said post, and an offset bracket mounted by said l0 Referring to the accompanying drawing: post and mounting said strip, said bracket being Figure l is an elevation of an example of the constructed to distort when a colliding vehicle invention. strikes said strip and being made of metal that is Figure 2 is a cross-section from the line II-H sufficiently soft to prevent said bracket from l5 in Figure 1. springing back when once distorted. l5

Figure 3 is a plan. 2. A guard rail including the combination of a More specifically, the guard rail illustrated by post, a bracket consisting of a bar formed to prothis drawing includes the combination ofa post vide a central straight upright portion and por- I, a bracket 2 consisting of a soft steel bar formed tions that are oiset therefrom and which have to provide a central straight upright portion 2H, ends that parallel said post, means for frictionally 20 and portions 2b that are offset from this upright clamping said ends of said bracket against said portion and have ends 2c that parallel the post I. post and a steel strip extending transversely past Members 3 clamp the ends 2c to the post I, and said post and which is mounted against said upthe straight portion 2a mounts a flat steel strip 4. right portion of Said bracket, said bracket being .5 The members 3 consist of short lengths of flat made of metal that is sufficiently soft to distort 25 steel bar which are bolted to the post I, and the Without springing back to its original shape when ends 2c have their extremities hooked, as at 2d, said strip is struck by a colliding vehicle. to prevent their Withdrawal. 3. A guard rail including the combination of a It is to be understood that the combination dlspost, a bracket consisting of a bar formed to prog() closed is but one of many which will together vide a central straight upright portion and porconstitute a guard rail. This is to say, there will tions that are offset therefrom and which have be a series of the posts I and brackets 2 mountends that parallel said post, means for frictionally ing a series of the steel strips which are interclamping said ends of said bracket againstaid connected end-to-end. post and a steel strip extending transversely past When a colliding vehicle strikes the straight said post and which is mounted against said up- 35 strip 4 the soft steel from which the bracket 2 is right portion of said bracket, said bracket being made will tend to distort without spring-back, made of metal that is suilciently soft to distort whereby the shock will be gradually absorbed. without springing back to its original shape when Also, the ends 2c Will slide through the members 3 said Strip is struck by a colliding vehicle and said "il which clamp them to the posts I, this further strip having backwardly angling edge portions 40 absorbing the shock. It is obvious that there will be no rebounding such as is caused by elastic brackets.

To further guard against damage to a colliding that are fastened against said offset portions of said bracket.

ALAN E. BRICKMAN. GEORGE A. GLEASON. 

